Ferdinand von Mueller

Melbourne botanic & zoologic Garden,

25. April 1861.

Sir

Being aware of the just intention of the Government and the Legislature of New South Wales, to acknowledge the claims which by his long and lasting labours in the cause of geological science, the Reverend Mr Clarke has so deservedly established on the gratitude of these countries,

1

The NSW Parliament was at this time considering rewarding W. B. Clarke for his contributions to the discovery of gold in the colony, and in due course agreed to give him a reward of £3,000 (ADB).

I venture to adress you on behalf of this illustrious and venerable fellowlabourer in the field of science; and as the Reverend Gentleman neither directly nor indirectly has influenced me to take this step, which is entirely spontaneous on my side, I trust that my frank adress to you shall enjoy the same friendly consideration, which Lord Palmerston so gracefully paid to the words of Alexander von Humboldt and spoken on behalf of Robert Brown.

2

Robert Brown (1773-1858). M was mistaken about the ministry that awarded Brown a pension: 'At Humboldt's suggestion Sir Robert Peel's ministry granted him a yearly pension of £200' (Sachs (1890), p. 139, n. 1). The pension was awaded during the financial year 1843-44 (Times (London), 27 July 1844, p 5), but Brown wrote to Peel: 'I beg most respectfully to decline accepting the Offer which your Letter conveys' (quoted in Mabberley (1985), p. 349).

If a savant, like Mr Clarke, has a lifetime willingly devoted for the furtherance of that science, which stands in most intimate relation to the richest resources of this part of the globe, such a fact cannot but leave an impression alike profound and convincing on our mind, that the services of such a man cannot readily be replaced and that, whilst we gratefully during his lifetime pay a tribute to the worth of our geological veteran and philosopher and render thereby the evening of his life one of sorrowless tranquillity, your colony will enable him to lay before the world that vast treasures of knowledge and the multifarious results of his careful studies, which otherwise with him may be lost not only to the scientific world but also to the practical development of the resources of these colonies.

In giving expression to this deep wish of mine, which is only a faint echo of the feelings of all those, who had like myself an opportunity of learning to appreciate the wide extent of the knowledge of the Reverend Mr Clarke,

3

M had got to know Clarke while in Sydney in 1857, working up the results of the North Australian Exploring Expedition.

I trust you will with your well known greatness of mind give your powerful support to those measures, which no doubt the gratitude of your colony to its celebrated geological explorer will dictate.

With sentiments of the deepest regard, I have the honor to be, Sir,

The honorable the Chief Secretary of New South Wales.

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